Client profile: Angus McBride, News UK

The veteran criminal defence lawyer turned legal head on bridging the gap between journalism and law

While a student at the University of Wales, Angus McBride mulled his career prospects. During his first year at university, he was obliged to choose three subjects to study. ‘I took English literature and philosophy and then decided I was going to do law as well. It was a last-minute thought.’

So far, so typical for the budding lawyer who drifts into a safe legal career but in many ways McBride was more drawn to the cut and thrust of Fleet Street. Despite ultimately pursuing an eminent career as a criminal defence lawyer and later general counsel (GC) of The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun publisher News UK, McBride confesses that his other study choices reflected different passions.

‘I’ve always been intrigued by the press and their influence. There’s a lot of me that wanted to be a journalist when I was in training. It always seemed like an interesting job.’

McBride says ‘sometimes these things just happen’ as an explanation for his decision to follow the law, and after a couple of gap years he became a trainee at Lewis Silkin, where he got his first taste of criminal work. Operating out of the firm’s office in Peckham, McBride spent six months learning criminal defence before undertaking a year of corporate advertising work.

Upon qualifying in 1991, McBride moved to Bristol to join high street criminal defence specialist Douglas & Partners. It was during this time he was on ‘the main diet for criminal defence lawyers’, spending every day at either the magistrates or Crown court.

McBride’s main tenure in private practice was at Kingsley Napley, joining the City firm in 1999 and departing after 17 years in 2016.

As a partner at Kingsley Napley, McBride focused on white-collar criminal defence, but also picked up mandates representing high-profile individuals. He successfully defended Chelsea footballer Jody Morris against allegations of affray following a brawl at The Wellington Club in 2002.

Soon-to-be Chelsea captain John Terry was also accused of affray, among other charges, in the same incident, and McBride went on to provide the controversial footballer with general legal advice for seven years.

‘It gave me a good insight into the papers and how it all worked from their side,’ he notes.

But it was McBride’s most high-profile assignment at Kingsley Napley that led him into the in-house legal position at News UK. He represented former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks against phone-hacking allegations between 2013 and 2014. McBride successfully defended Brooks, who was accused of knowing that phone hacking had taken place at the now defunct News of the World. The paper was shut in 2011 at the height of the controversy.

After the trial concluded, Brooks returned as chief executive of News of the World’s parent News UK and in autumn 2015 she asked her lawyer to take on the role of GC at the company.

McBride says that he landed the job at News UK because of his work with Brooks, stating: ‘There were ongoing matters the business faced that I had knowledge of. It just fitted as a job that seemed a natural progression.’

The immediate priority upon McBride’s arrival at News UK was to get to grips with his legal team. McBride says that before he joined he had lunch with each of his direct reports to make sure the legal team was functioning well, that the right people were in position and that he knew everyone’s role.

‘I’ve always been intrigued by the press and their influence. There’s a lot of me that wanted to be a journalist when I was in training.’

McBride’s first major influence on his new team was to bring them closer to the core News UK business. ‘I moved the legal team to the 13th floor of the building next to the communications team so that we’re fairly central in what the business does and the decisions that are made.

‘Traditionally legal teams are seen as a barrier to things being done, but hopefully we’re seen as commercial and facilitators rather than a bringer of problems,’ he adds.

McBride’s team is made up of 24 individuals across eight reporting lines: The Times editorial; The Sun editorial; compliance; corporate; commercial; intellectual property; employment; and marketing. As a lawyer who has turned his hand to many situations, the range unsurprisingly appeals. ‘I like how one minute I’m dealing with complaints on a story and then the next I’m resolving issues around our relationship with advertising agencies.’

Victoria Smith heads up News UK’s corporate division and assisted McBride with the company’s acquisition of Wireless Group, the owner of talkSPORT and Virgin Radio in September 2016. The deal, worth a reported £220m, saw News UK acquire talkSPORT’s radio and digital audio broadcasting rights for the Premier League and FA Cup.

McBride cites the Wireless buyout as the most significant piece of work he has undertaken since joining News UK. Taylor Wessing advised News UK on the transaction.

While McBride assists his legal team wherever possible, most of his time is spent handling litigation. McBride states that staff members of The Sun are currently facing a ‘major onslaught’ of litigation from ‘a number of claimant firms’.

There is no binding panel agreement in place at News UK, rather an extensive group of firms that McBride has built relationships with over time. RPC assists News UK with editorial litigation and advice, while Allen & Overy handles corporate, competition and employment work.

Additionally Clifford Chance is helping McBride defend litigation against The Sun, Soho commercial practice Simons Muirhead & Burton assists The Sun’s editorial team, and Lewis Silkin and Wiggin provide commercial advice on betting and gaming.

News UK also use Clarkslegal, Arnold & Porter, Hogan Lovells, Taylor Wessing and Mishcon de Reya for a range of work. McBride quips: ‘There’s very few firms left after that!’

McBride keeps having ‘the panel discussion’ at News UK, but ultimately prefers a looser approach. ‘Because of the broad nature of the work we cover, there are very few firms that can do all of those areas under one roof. We trust the people we have so we keep it like that at the moment.’

McBride also claims he is ‘under a lot of pressure to reduce costs’ and that ‘most of the firms we deal with already understand that’.

Aside from the day-to-day legal work, McBride is embroiled in lobbying on matters that affect press regulation. Most recently, he responded to a government consultation on section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 and part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry.

Section 40 stipulates that news organisations that do not sign up to the Royal Charter-sponsored regulatory body IMPRESS would have to pay the legal costs of claimants even if they win. Instigating part 2 of the Leveson Inquiry would prolong investigations into media organisations in relation to unlawful conduct, such as phone hacking.

McBride argues: ‘All of the things that the business has been subjected to over the last few years have dealt with what the government set out in Leveson. A further public inquiry is something that we consider unnecessary. It would just be going over old ground. It’s been done to death.’

‘People need to watch what they wish for. Get a regulator to squeeze out the traditional press at your peril. You’ll be left with no ability to review what is being said and what the truth of it is.’

McBride is unsurprisingly in favour of the press-created Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), and he refers to Sir Joseph Pilling’s 2016 report that found it played an effective role as a regulator. However, many have voiced concerns over a watchdog created by the press. Critics include The Guardian, which described the body as a ‘total failure’ in a September 2015 article.

On the government-backed IMPRESS, which has seen no major national newspaper sign up, McBride contends: ‘We have this rather absurd situation of a regulator that regulates no-one of any significance. To be penalised for not joining up to a regulator that has no track record and is funded through a charitable trust set up by Max Mosley and has a number of people involved in it who are clearly anti-press, it just doesn’t make sense anymore.’

McBride warns against the consequences of regulators squeezing the press too hard: ‘People need to watch what they wish for. Get a regulator to squeeze out the traditional press at your peril. You’ll be left with no ability to review what is being said and what the truth of it is.’

Aside from regulatory concerns, the newspaper industry is facing an uphill battle in terms of market conditions. In May 2016, the Daily Mail and General Trust issued a warning to investors after recording a 29% drop in profits, with the decline being attributed to a fall in print advertising. Another bellwether title, The Guardian, saw its print circulation fall 11% to 164,163 in 2016.

While The Sun remains the UK’s most-read newspaper, McBride is cautious for the future. A major concern is the ominous shadow cast by online giants such as Facebook and Google onto the news stage. McBride claims that the two companies strip 75% of the advertising revenue that comes from sharing online stories written by news organisations without paying for any of the content.

‘We’ve got to look at how newspaper revenue is used digitally,’ McBride says. ‘It’s a very real issue. The general argument is focused on the Hacked Off brigade and their total anti-press attitude without any thought for what comes in place of traditional newspapers. You’ve got to accept the press warts and all.’

With this backdrop, McBride reflects on the challenges of his role, and how it differs compared to GCs working in other industries. ‘If you’re in financial services there’s a very clear issue around what you do. I hear some companies talk about crisis management or things to look out for. I wouldn’t put those issues even in my top ten.’

Ultimately, McBride regrets that he is currently unable to devote more of his time to the future of journalism, one of his core passions. ‘Creativity is essential in deciding how news will continue to be delivered over the next five to ten years. I find myself embroiled in other areas whereas I’d love to be more involved in creative things, helping those that are looking at the future.’

tom.baker@legalease.co.uk